IS EMMA RADUCANU’S "NIGHT OWL" TRAINING SCHEDULE THE SECRET TO HER MELBOURNE SUCCESS?
Emma Raducanu overcame a slow start and a midnight schedule to reach the second round. Is she ready for a Sabalenka showdown?
Sixteen minutes into her first match at Melbourne Park, Emma Raducanu looked lost. Down 1-3, 15-40, she couldn’t find her footing. Across the net, her opponent—a newcomer most people hadn’t even heard of—was playing out of her mind. It was the kind of moment that could send a player spiralling: panic, errors, the whole thing falling apart.
But Raducanu stayed calm. She shook off the rough start, found her game, and cruised into the second round of the Australian Open, beating Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4, 6-1.
The circumstances weren’t easy. It was late at night, the opponent was hot, and the pressure was on. Still, Raducanu handled it all and walked off with a win that should give her a much-needed shot of confidence after a rocky off-season.
“I feel very happy to have gotten through the match,” she said afterwards. “From the beginning, she was playing so well. All her shots were landing right on the baseline—really tough. I’m proud of how I fought back.”
Raducanu didn’t have much time to settle in. She played in Hobart on Thursday night, her flight to Melbourne was delayed, and she ended up with just one day to adjust and practice before stepping on court. She also had to deal with a late-night slot—her only practice session at Melbourne Park ran from 9:15 to 11 p.m. “I’m a night owl, but not for playing. That’s for ‘Emma time’,” she joked.
She’s been trying to train herself to handle these late matches. “Half the battle is just figuring out how to arrange the day—when to switch on, when to switch off. I’ve tried a few things. Today, I actually felt really good before the match, and it helped that the match before mine didn’t run too long. I didn’t end up on court too late.”
Sawangkaew, also 23 and making her first appearance in a Grand Slam main draw, was the real reason Raducanu struggled early. Sawangkaew’s ranking—196—doesn’t show her true level. She’d been climbing the ranks until an injury put her out for six months last season, just after she cracked the top 100.
She came out swinging, using her heavy topspin forehand to push Raducanu back, rushing the net, and forcing errors with sharp defence. “Honestly, I didn’t feel like I was doing much wrong,” Raducanu admitted.
Still, her serve was off, and her forehand wasn’t clicking. She went down two breaks and seemed in trouble, but suddenly, everything started to work. Her serve came alive at the right moments, and her forehand started to land. Once she found her groove, she ran away with it.
“Today, I felt like I had better control over all my shots than I have in the last few weeks,” she said. “And honestly, all the matches and points I played recently, even the tough ones, helped me today. If I hadn’t played those three matches, I’m not sure I’d have gotten through this one. I’m glad I put myself in those situations.”
Next up, things get tougher. She’ll face Anastasia Potapova, a 24-year-old who switched to playing for Austria this year. Potapova is ranked 55 now, but has been as high as 21 and was once the top junior in the world. If Raducanu wins, she might face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round—which should give a real sense of where her game stands.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, started her own tournament with an easy win Sunday night, taking out French wildcard Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-4, 6-1. Sabalenka’s been in the last three Melbourne finals, winning two. She’s still the favourite.
With Roger Federer watching from the stands, Sabalenka kept pushing her game forward—she came to the net 22 times. “I’ve been working on serve and volley,” she said. “It’s one thing to do it in practice, but to do it in a match, to be fearless and just go for it, that’s something else. I’m really proud I could show that tennis.”
JANNIK SINNER DESTROYS ZVEREV IN MADRID TO WIN FIFTH STRAIGHT MASTERS TITLE
Explore the data behind Sinner’s 28-match win streak and his quest to sweep all nine Masters titles at the upcoming Italian Open.
All week in Madrid, Jude Bellingham and Thibaut Courtois kept popping up in the stands at the Caja Mágica. They really seemed to be enjoying the matches, but they had to skip Sunday’s final. Real Madrid had their own business at Espanyol that night. Honestly, they didn’t miss much. Jannik Sinner needed just 57 minutes to obliterate Alexander Zverev in the second-fastest Masters 1000 final ever (if you don’t count retirements). Blink, and you’d miss it.
Numbers tell the whole tale here. Sinner just became the first guy to win five Masters 1000 tournaments in a row. That’s a streak that began last season in Paris and now covers Indian Wells and Miami on hard courts, plus Monte Carlo and Madrid on clay. Not even Djokovic, Nadal, or Federer pulled this off in their best years.
Sinner’s last real Masters loss? A third-round retirement in Shanghai. Now he’s on a 28-match win streak at Masters events. When he heads home for the Italian Open in Rome, he'll have a shot at topping Federer’s best run (29) and chasing Djokovic’s record of 31 straight wins. If he takes his first title in Rome, he’ll join Djokovic as the only men to sweep all nine current Masters tournaments. And after all that, Sinner just shrugged and said he doesn’t play for records. Imagine if he did.
Zverev, once again, had to find the words to sum up Sinner’s dominance, and honestly, it sounded bleak for everyone else in the draw. “Today I would have lost to anybody, to be very fair. I think today I played an awful tennis match,” Zverev admitted. And then: “There’s a big gap between Sinner and everybody else. And there’s a big gap between Alcaraz, me, maybe Novak, and everybody else. There are two gaps right now.”
That’s not encouraging for the competition, especially with Sinner heading to Roland Garros as the top favourite for a Grand Slam since Djokovic’s dominant Wimbledon run four years ago. Carlos Alcaraz, last year’s Paris champ, is out with a wrist injury, so Zverev becomes the second seed. But Zverev just got destroyed, 6-1, 6-2, in his best clay final, and he sounded convinced Sinner is a class apart. Sure, Djokovic beat Sinner at the Australian Open, but he hasn’t played since March, and he’s about to turn 39.
You really have to give Sinner credit for this run. It’s not flashy, but his consistency, resetting point by point, staying sharp every week, is rare. Tennis makes it hard to stay locked in, and everyone would do it if it were easy.
Sinner downplays the records and comparisons. “I cannot compare myself with Rafa, Roger, Novak,” he said in Madrid. “What they did is something incredible. I don’t play for these records. I play for myself, for my team, because they know what’s behind the scenes. Also, my family never changed because of my success… Sure, these are great numbers, but it takes discipline and sacrifice.”
He keeps it grounded: "There are daily routines. I’m the one who has to wake up and be ready every morning. I love the journey. I want to give myself the best chance to be my best. Not for records. What those greats did and what Novak still does is incredible. I can’t compare to them.”
But nobody can argue with what Sinner’s doing right now. He kicked off the season by becoming the first to win the Indian Wells-Miami double without dropping a set. He caught Alcaraz and took the No. 1 spot back in Monte Carlo. Now, with Alcaraz sidelined, Sinner’s got a real shot at making a historic run through Rome and Roland Garros. Outside of Djokovic, the rest just don’t seem to matter at the moment.
ITALIAN OPEN SEEDS FINALIZED WITH SABALENKA, RYBAKINA, AND GAUFF LEADING ENTRY LIST
Jasmine Paolini defends her Italian Open title against a field led by Swiatek and Sabalenka, with massive ranking points at stake.
The Italian Open is the next big stop in the WTA 1000 clay season, right after Madrid. Here, Jasmine Paolini and Coco Gauff have a lot riding on their performances – lots of ranking points at stake. Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek, though, have a little more breathing room when it comes to their points.
Madrid wrapped up recently, with Marta Kostyuk taking down Mirra Andreeva to grab her first title at this level. There’s barely been time to catch a breath, but the action picks right back up in Rome on May 5. The top seeds won’t play until the second round, which gives them a little extra rest.
Aryna Sabalenka is the No. 1 seed. Behind her, you’ve got Rybakina, Gauff, Swiatek, Pegula, Anisimova, Svitolina, Andreeva, Paolini, and Victoria Mboko rounding out the top 10. Thanks to her big win in Madrid, Kostyuk is up to a career-high No. 15. Still, since Rome’s seedings were finalised on April 20, she’ll be seeded 23rd.
Let’s talk about points and what’s at risk in Rome. The WTA ranking system looks back over the past 52 weeks; it adds the points you earn now and subtracts the ones from the same tournament a year ago, right as the new event kicks off.
Jasmine Paolini has 1,000 points to defend; she’s the reigning champion. Her ranking has dropped to No. 9, and unless she makes another deep run, she could fall out of the top 10 after Rome.
Coco Gauff is defending 650 points from last year’s runner-up finish. After Madrid, she slipped out of her No. 3 spot and could slide a bit more if she doesn’t go far in Rome.
Zheng Qinwen has 390 points on the line from her semi-final run last year, where she shocked top seed Sabalenka. Coming off a long injury, she’s still trying to get back to full strength. Dropping those points will probably push her out of the top 50.
Peyton Stearns, now ranked 50th, is in a similar spot; she made the semis last year with wins over some big names but needs points to hold her spot.
Sabalenka, Svitolina, Andreeva, and Shnaider are all defending 215 points after quarter-final runs. If Sabalenka goes out early and Rybakina has a deep run, the gap between them at the very top could shrink a lot.
Kostyuk, Osaka, Raducanu, and Ostapenko have 120 points each to defend from last year’s fourth round. Kostyuk especially has a shot to break into the top 10 with another great showing, while Raducanu needs points if she wants a seeded spot at Roland Garros.
Victoria Mboko worked her way through qualifying last year and then lost early, picking up 65 points in Rome and earning more at another event. This year, she’s already set for some points before Rome even begins.
Iga Swiatek, six-time major champ, leads Gauff by 199 points going into Rome, and once last year’s points come off, that lead jumps to 784. Swiatek lost early in Rome last year, so she’s only dropping 65 points.
Alex Eala only has 10 points to defend after a first-round exit. She’ll get those back just by playing this year, but if she wants to be seeded for the French Open, she needs a strong run.
For Elena Rybakina, it’s simple; she doesn’t lose any points from last year since the Italian Open isn’t one of her countable events this time. So Sabalenka starts Rome with a 1,340-point lead over her. But if Rybakina wins in Rome and Sabalenka loses early, that lead shrinks to just over 300 points heading into Roland Garros. Things could get interesting.
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